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Xbox One Is Getting a Dashboard Redesign, Loses Cortana Support

The main screen of the Xbox One will once again get a redesign and a more "streamlined user interface," according to Microsoft.

With this new experimental Home design, the first thing you’ll notice is that Microsoft has removed the Twists from the top of Home in favor of separate buttons that launch gaming experiences. Microsoft's goal is to let you jump into Xbox Game Pass, Mixer, Xbox Community and Microsoft Store quicker. The company has also shifted things around to make more room for your recently played titles.

The new experimental Home rolls out this week to select Xbox Insiders in the Alpha and Alpha Skip Ahead rings. The Home experience will continue to evolve and change based on users' feedback.

Last fall, Microsoft expanded Xbox voice commands to hundreds of millions of smart devices by enabling Xbox One to connect with Xbox Skill for Cortana and Alexa-enabled devices.

Microsoft is now further evolving the way voice commands on Xbox are supported and is moving away from on-console experiences to cloud-based assistant experiences. This means you can no longer talk to Cortana via your headset. However, you can use the Xbox Skill for Cortana via the Cortana app on iOS, Android, and Windows or via Harmon Kardon Invoke speaker to power your Xbox One, adjust volume, launch games and apps, capture screenshots, and more —just as you can do with Alexa-enabled devices today. Microsoft will also continue to improve the Xbox Skill across supported digital assistants and continue expanding the Xbox voice capabilities in the future based on fan feedback.

Starting this week, this update will roll out to our Alpha Skip Ahead ring and will fully rollout to all users this fall. As part of these changes, this update will temporarily disable dictation for the virtual keyboard on Xbox One. Microsoft says it is working to provide an alternative solution.